phelps

next week, it's also time for the Zagreb Ranking Series Tournament... and Italy have gone shopping in the former USSR once again... the newcomer is Akhmedkhan Tembotov, who's going to wrestle for us in the men's -86kg in Freestyle Wrestling.

last day of the championships...and finally, Italy take the men's Slalom Gold Medal, thanks to Corrado Barbera. we end up the championship with 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze medals in the individual events (we might add 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze in the team events, but to me they don't count anything even at the Olympics, imagine in a youth competition). in the "serious" Individual races, and won 2 Gold medals each, and won 1 Gold medal each. also won 1 Gold medal each in the socalled (senseless and useless) Team events (Mixed Team Parallel, men's Team Alpine Combined, women's Team Alpine Combined).

here we go again... Arianna Fontana vs the Italian Ice Sports Federation, chapter #9762 almost 12 months after the Gold Medal won in Beijing, our GOAT speedskating specialist goes again wild against our ice sports federation (FISG), because she says that they have not fulfilled any of the promises they made at the end of last season. even worse, those who were the target of her previous attack are still there as trainers and officials of our NT. therefore, the relationship between her and the federation (and the NT staff) is now definitively compromised. she also said that she's been following her husband (former speedskater Anthony Lobello) in the last few weeks/months in his US tour, which means that most likely, if her husband will be hired in the coaching staff of the US team, she's going to switch Nationality and compete for the as soon as possible. the source (in Italian): https://www.oasport.it/2023/01/short-track-arianna-fontana-cambia-nazionalita-fiducia-nello-staff-tecnico-e-federale-irrecuperabile/?refresh_ce

there's a good chance that the World Championships will have to change date and site. there are strong rumors about moving the event in Rio De Janeiro at the end of September, just after the World Cup stage already scheduled in the 2016 Olympic City in the middle of September. more news coming in the next weeks.

who's the American coach? Matthew Emmons?

so far, in the women's World Cup, Italy has made the podium in 17 out of 18 races (not counting the 7 Slalom events), with a total of 19 "medals" (7 first, 6 second and 6 third places). the only race where they missed the podium is the Super-G in Lake Louise (5th place by Goggia and 6th by Curtoni were the best results on that day) back at the beginning of December 2022. meanwhile, no need to say that in 7 Slalom races, has not made even a single Top 12 finish. someone might think that we have a little problem in Slalom.

I think vs could/should be closer than the other QTF matches if I'm not wrong, in the Netherlands, it's all on Ziggo Sport by the way, if you feel the lack of media coverage/interest in the "Hockey Nation" par excellence, just imagine how do the fans living in Countries with no tradition/general interest/media coverage feel. the current tenure of the International Federation is just killing the sport, making it almost inaccessible because of pay-walls and/or giving the media rights to obscure/non reliable companies.

important news for Italy. it looks that Brandon Nimmo (OF, New York Mets) will return for the second time in a row to play with the "Azzurri"

so, the shotgun specialists just finished their first world cup stage of the year, where the dominated the field with 5 gold medals. 5 more Nations won 1 gold medal each and a total of 16 Countries won at least a medal. now it's already time for the first world cup stage dedicated to the pistol and rifle specialists, starting next weekend in Jakarta (where a very poor participation of non-Asian Nations is expected, tbh).

Women's Team Trap Gold: United States Silver: Kazakhstan Bronze: Kuwait Final Ranking and Results https://www.issf-sports.org/competitions/venue/csevent.ashx?cseventid=17371

Men's Team Trap Gold: Croatia Silver: Portugal Bronze: United States Final Ranking and Results https://www.issf-sports.org/competitions/venue/csevent.ashx?cseventid=17370

Mixed Team Trap Gold: United States 1 (Rachel Leighanne Tozier & Derrick Scott Mein) Silver: Poland (Sandra Bernal & Tomasz Pasierbski) Bronze: Portugal (Ana Rita Rodrigues & Armelim Filipe Rodrigues) Final Ranking and Results https://www.issf-sports.org/competitions/venue/csevent.ashx?cseventid=17367

up

Bormolini! most likely, the only Italian win Today

it's NFL playoffs time! then, it's Wintersports & Handball also for me...

need to know their pusher! right now!

here we go...all teams but 1, DQ in the Big Final...

maybe...but it's not gonna be easy. Colturi should win quite easily the overall combined ranking (if they still take it into account), unless she totally chokes in the Slalom race.

in Ancona, Leonardo Tano improved to 7.79 in the men's 60m Hurdles. who is Leonardo Tano? most people are just asking themselves that question... well, he's nothing less than the 23-year young son of Rocco Siffredi (and Rosa Caracciolo, for those who know what is it about) in the last couple of weeks, here in Italy, he's getting more attention than Marcell Jacobs himself

Women's Trap Gold: Mar Molne Magrina Silver: Safiye Sariturk Temizdemir Bronze: Rachel Leighanne Tozier Final Ranking and Results https://www.issf-sports.org/competitions/venue/csevent.ashx?cseventid=17364

Men's Trap Gold: Matthew John Coward-Holley Silver: David Kostelecky Bronze: Joao Azevedo Final Ranking and Results https://www.issf-sports.org/competitions/venue/csevent.ashx?cseventid=17365

now it's official. earlier Today, a press conference was held in Baselga di Pinè to announce that the Olympic Speedskating tournament in 2026 will NOT be hosted by the small village in the North of Italy. the increased cost, the opposition of the local community and our usual political sh*t won the fight and force the Milano-Cortina 2026 organizing committee to scratch this venue because any necessary renovation work is impossible to be done. now they will have to find (quickly, I hope) a new venue for the sport: they said they will evaluate all the chances, but in the end the only possible venues are the good old Exhibition Halls in Turin (Lingotto) and Milan (the new Exhibition Area in Rho-Pero and the most fascinating Palazzo delle Scintille, the only remaining pavillion from the old Exhibition Center in the center of the city). I don't see any other place capable of hosting that event with such short time to set it up. p.s. if only those idiots decided since the beginning to build a new permanent Oval in Milan, just beside the Forum (the Arena that will host Figure Skating and Short Track Speedskating in 2026), where they have plenty of space, instead of searching for utopian projects...

are on fire... no chance for

a quick hint...it's not about a single sport